


Devils Advocate

by Xombe



Category: Overwatch (Video Game), Team Fortress 2
Genre: Angela "Mercy" Ziegler-centric, Bamf mercy, M/M, Medic is Mercy's father, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, TF2 Mercs raised Mercy, Young Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, blackwatch mercy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23300137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xombe/pseuds/Xombe
Summary: Angela "Mercy" Ziegler. By all accounts a genius. At the age of seven, she disappeared off the face of the planet only to reappear eight years later as a child prodigy. Eight more years pass by and she applies for Blackwatch, the underground division of Overwatch. While she appears friendly at first, those around her come to realize there's something a little off.
Relationships: Heavy/Medic (Team Fortress 2), Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Comments: 9
Kudos: 57





	Devils Advocate

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bushman's Rules](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7773052) by [pariahpirate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pariahpirate/pseuds/pariahpirate). 



If the sheer number of tablets scattered across Jack’s desk weren’t enough to make him regret his position as strike commander, then the paperwork he’s hidden away and was procrastinating was.

The bright blue glow each device emitted was the only source of light in his office, with the sun having set hours ago. Technically working off the clock, and without the pressure of finishing paperwork hanging in the back of his mind, Jack reviewed the various personnel files, newspapers, and scientific papers about Overwatch’s newest potential recruit.

Rubbing his eyes and tilting his head to the ceiling Jack gave himself a few moments to rest before returning to the device he clutched in his hands. The cheery face of Angela Ziegler looking back at him. She stood in front of the Swiss hospital she was employed at, in her own hands, she held aloft her invention, the Caduceus Staff.

Absently scanning through the words as they scrolled across the screen, he picked up on repeated ones like ‘prodigy’, ‘genius’, and ‘lifesaver’. These three words were repeated in various forms throughout most of the reports Athena had selected for him to review.

But that was to be expected.

Widely regarded as a child genius, Angela had been invited to the Overwatch headquarters at the age of seventeen for a summer internship. There he’d witnessed firsthand her resourcefulness and willingness to take risks, and though he’d never admit it, the picture the strike team had taken with her stayed propped up on his desk at all times. When the year ended he, Ana, and Gabe had agreed then her Overwatch application to join was a much-anticipated form.

So why had she applied for Blackwatch? 

“Athena, translate the next article.”

“Right away Strike Commander.”

“That’s Jack to you.”

“Of course sir.”

Rolling his eyes, Jack set aside the report of her famed staff. Picking up the last tablet in his unread pile, he tapped the screen to turn it on. As the words began changing from German to English, he nearly scoffed at the title.

“Athena, run a scan for viruses in your system. You sent me to a conspiracy website.” Jack looked up to the Overwatch logo engraved into the wall opposite to him, which would light up every time Athena spoke.

“Scans indicate that my systems are clean, and a report of my last update was only last week.” 

“Then why am I looking at this junk?”

“My internal records indicate that the information is correct.”

A conspiracy website? Correct? Jack looked down at the article again. The first thing he saw was a date, one he and his fellow SEP soldiers knew all too well.

The date was from late in the year 2046. The Omnic Crisis had been on a steady decline at that point, and it was looking like a swift victory was approaching. Then headlines around the world reported a tragedy.

A town in Switzerland had been burned to the ground, reduced to nothing but ash in the wake of an unaccounted-for Omnic force. The citizens living there had been burned in their sleep, with no survivors.

Jack squinted his eyes at the cheesily placed ‘or was there’ at the end of the paragraph. A hook to keep skeptical readers on the page. Unfortunately, it did the trick, and his eyes immediately jumped down to read on, curiosity stringing him along.

The article went on to say that there was one body unaccounted for, a seven-year-old child whose identity had never been revealed to the public. The writer confessed to being on a search team for the little girl, but that nothing ever turned up. He had to admit, the pictures posted on the website did resemble what Jack presumed Angela would look like if she were a child.

“Athena, check birth records for females with bleach blonde hair and blue eyes born in Switzerland, anywhere from 2035 to 2040. Then I want you to see if any of their parents posted their later pictures on the internet. We’re specifically looking for Angela.”

“The result of your search includes around 281,740 children.” Jack’s heart nearly stopped, that many children to shift through? On a conspiracy’s provocation? “Would you like me to narrow it down using face recognition?”

“God yes.”

A large panel slid down from the ceiling, descending until about a third from the ceiling to the floor before stopping. It took a moment, but the screen lit up, displaying various pictures of a familiar-looking girl. Jack recognized her from the conspiracy website.

“Angela Ziegler, born to  Élea and Noah Ziegler. Disappeared in the year 2046 after her town burned down. Well known for her contributions to medicine.”

Jack sat back in his chair, disbelief filling him. Angela had disappeared in her childhood?

“Athena pull up Angela’s school records.”

“Angela Ziegler attended kindergarten and primary school before she disappeared. Her next known record is attendance at a Vocational Education and Training program where she proved to be extremely reliable in her chosen subject and graduated early, where she then went on to create the-”

“That’s it? No middle school?”

“The Swiss call it Lower and Upper Secondary Education.”

“That then, she didn’t attend any of that?”

“Miss Ziegler was missing for those years. It seems she only appeared and claimed her identity at the age of fifteen, where she then applied to the VET program.”

“That doesn’t sound right.” Jack shook his head and looked back to the screen, pausing as he realized he’d been pacing. A habit he’d picked up as of late after having to stand and present in so many meetings.

“Normally only anyone who had completed their prior education would be accepted, but it appears that Angela received a voucher by an anonymous person not mentioned by name in any of these files. She also is reported to have performed a test in which she excelled.”

Jack sat down in his chair again, the springs complaining from the sudden weight. Rubbing his face with his hands he leaned back and took a second to process what he had heard. Angela was part of a conspiracy, she’d been missing for around eight years, and was once again proven to be a child prodigy.

“Athena, what time is it?”

“It is currently 3:52 am.”

“Patch me into Gabe.”

“Understood. Connecting to Gabriel Reyes.”

On his desk, a red light started flashing. It took a moment for Athena to connect, and another moment for Gabe to pick up. Jack personally couldn’t wait, he had a lot to share and it certainly couldn’t wait the whole trip down to the bedroom.

“Jack?”

The speaker crackled to life as Gabe’s tired voice filtered through.

“Hey Gabe, listen I’ve been doing some research on Angela and-”

“Jack,” he sighed, “it’s nearly four in the morning. Don’t tell me you’ve spent this whole night doing research on a recruit that both you and Ana already approved years ago.”

“It’s out of my hands since she applied for Blackwatch, but that’s not the point right now. Gabe, you’re not going to believe this.”

Silence. Then the sound of sheets moving and a significantly more awake voice followed.

“What?”

“I was doing some research on her, just the usual background checks so you could just sign off when the papers hit your desk, and-”

“Hold on, we can get to that later. Blackwatch? And Angela? Did you tell her about that?”

Jack faltered. Angela’s Overwatch form had included in her extra section that she’d prefer to be set up in the Blackwatch division, and he’d assumed that Gabe had told her about it at some point over the summer.

“You didn’t tell her?”

“Hell no! Angela didn’t exactly strike me as the type to condone a secret underground division that did all the dirty work.”

He had a point.

“She specifically asked for it, I already had the information transferred to you so it’s up to you to sign off on it.”

“Then why were you researching her?”

“I was just trying to figure out why she’d prefer Blackwatch. She’s poster-worthy than I am.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Miss Sunshine applied for a secret division she’s not supposed to know about.” Gabe’s frustration was clear, and the thought occurred to Jack that it might have been better to discuss in the room and not at nearly four in the morning.

“What’s your take on this?” He asked, curious if Gabe would turn her away.

“Jack, it’s too early in the morning to make any kind of decision.” There was a heavy sigh, followed by a dull flop. “I’ll tell you what, send me whatever information you dug up, and I’ll go over it in the morning. We’ll decide then.”

“We’ll?”

“She might still take a position on your team, and I know you don’t want to turn her away if I say no.”

Gabe had a point. With a glance down at the clocks displayed on the many tablets, he’d been pouring over Jack nodded, absently remembering Gabe couldn’t see him and spoke.

“Athena, transfer all data about Angela Ziegler researched tonight to Gabriel’s folder.”

“Understood.”

Jack started cleaning up the mess he’d made when a sudden crackle from the speaker made him jump.

“Clean it up in the morning, get down here poster boy. You’ve been working too hard.”

Relaxing, a gentle smile crossed Jack’s face as he set the tablets down. “Alright Gabe, I’ll see you soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've loved the idea of the TF2 mercs raising/teaching their Overwatch counterparts, and I'm a sucker for stories where Mercy is Medic's daughter. So I've thrown my hat into the rink after being inspired by pariahpirate's Bushman's Rules! Thank you pariahpirate, your fic is lovely and I continue to enjoy it every time I re-read it


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